Using Technology Series

Using Online Tools to Engageand be Engaged byThe Public

Matt Leighninger
Deliberative Democracy Consortium

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Part I: Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Scenario 1: You want to know the immediate citizen reaction to a particular,
well-known issue or decision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Scenario 2: You are in the midst of a high-profile situation in which different
sets of people do not agree about what should be done. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Scenario 3: You need new ideas, and more information, from citizens to help
make government more effective and/or efficient. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Scenario 4: You are trying to encourage citizens to take shared ownership of
an issue and participate in addressing it.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Scenario 5: You are trying to educate citizens about a particular issue ordecision.. . . 15
Part II: Tactics and Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Tactic 1: Develop documents collaboratively via Wikis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Tactic 2: Create shared work space for citizens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Tactic 3: Facilitate large-scale deliberation online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Tactic 4: Use serious games to generate interest, understanding, and input . . . . 23
Tactic 5: Survey citizens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Tactic 6: Aggregate opinions expressed on social media networks. . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Tactic 7: Gather and rank ideas and solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Tactic 8: Work with citizens to identify and prioritize problems that
government can fix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Tactic 9: Help citizens to visualize geographic data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Tactic 10: Help citizens to balance budget and revenue options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

TAB LE OF CONT E NT S

Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

President Obamas widely publicized Open Government Initiative has generated a great deal
of buzz among federal agency managers as well as the public, especially as it relates to the
use of online tools to extend active engagement beyond the traditional bounds of public
hearings and comments on draft regulations.
While all federal agencies have developed open government plans, many managers find
themselves unfamiliar with what tactics and tools work best under different scenarios.
Mr.Leighningers report begins to pull back the veil on how online engagement tactics and
tools can be used, and when they work best.

Jonathan D. Breul

His report is also a bit of an experiment for us. For the first time, we have created both a
hard copy and an electronic interactive version. The hard copy version of this report can be
a valuable reference for managers at all levels of government. We hope the online version of
this report becomes a ready resource for you. We will be adding to and revising this report
over time based on evolving best practices. As Mr. Leighninger notes, online tools are a
moving target and we hope we can move along with it!
We trust this reportboth hard copy and onlinewill provide practical and concrete tactics
and tools for busy public managers as they actively pursue efforts to better engage both
their employees and citizens in uncovering innovative approaches, making better decisions,
and delivering more effective services to the public.
Melissa Marroso

Jonathan D. Breul
Executive Director
IBM Center for The Business of Government
jonathan.d.breul@us.ibm.com

Melissa Marroso
Social Media Consulting
IBM Global Business Services
melissa.l.marroso@us.ibm.com

FOR E WOR D

On behalf of the IBM Center for The Business of Government, we are pleased to present
this report, Using Online Tools to Engageand be Engaged byThe Public, by Matt
Leighninger, Executive Director of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium.

I NTR OD U CT I ON

How Should This Report be Used?

This reports structure displays many of the capabilities of online technology. The electronic version includes a link that allows you to submit
additional online tools, examples, and comments. We will then use
this input to prepare periodic revised editions of this report.
The report can be read straight throughthat is, it has a central thread
of reasoning for you to followbut you can also skip immediately to the
sections that interest you the most, and delve deeper to find (within or
outside the report) the information that will be most helpful to your
work. Using these functions will help you understand the different ways
in which public managers can use online technologies to engage the
public. The report also exemplifies the mindset of 21st century citizens,
who are increasingly expert at skipping and delving through content, as
well as developing new ways to engage their government.

Engaging the Public in a Wired World

Deciding how best to use online tools to engage the public may be the
ultimate moving target for public managers. This is not just because of
the rapid development of new tools, or apps, for engagement. The
main challenges now facing government managers are understanding:
The increasing complexity of how people organize themselves
online
Citizens evolving expectations of government
These challenges are faced by public officials in an environment of
dramatically increasing social media activity, where the worldwide
community of Facebook users now exceeds the population of the
United States. In this changed environment, users are organizing
themselves into networks and communities defined by shared interests, relationships, or geography.

The concern about the digital divide, which used to focus on the relatively simple question of how many (and what kinds of) people had
Internet access, has become more complicated as different populations
coalesce within different online arenas and technologies. Before selecting the best way to communicate with citizens, it is important to
understand:
Where they are online
How they prefer to be engaged
What they expect from government
The most challenging term to define in using online tools to engage
the public is neither online nor engage, but public.
It is also important to understand that engagement is now a two-way
street: more than ever before, citizens have the capacity to engage
their government and to insert themselves into policymaking processes. The Internet has accelerated this shift, but it has been evident
for some time in traditional face-to-face settings, first in local politics
and increasingly at the state and federal levels.
Faced with these new citizen capacities and expectations, government
leaders have realized the need to be more proactive in their approach
to the public, resulting in a wave of civic engagement efforts over the
past 10 years.
To engage a large and diverse group of citizens, public managers and
other leaders have employed targeted, network-based recruitment. To
ensure that the process is productive, they have employed techniques
like impartial facilitation, ground rules set by the group, and discussion
guides or agendas that lay out a range of policy options. Ten years ago,
these engagement initiatives were primarily face-to-face efforts; now
they commonly employ both online and face-to-face formats. Public
managers should use the lessons learned from this work, the most basic
of which is that engagement efforts must be built around the needs,
goals, and concerns of the potentially engaged, not just the engagers.

Public managers should keep in mind that short-term thinking and

tools cannot replace the careful, collaborative planning and building of
long-term engagement infrastructure. Productive engagement is based
on long-term relationships between government and citizens. One-time,
time-limited strategies can provide initial connections, but in order to
ensure that engagement produces positive results for all involved, there
needs to be a solid, broadly supported plan for interactive communication between public managers and citizens.
In managing 21st-century citizen engagement, public managers need to:
Develop a long-term plan for public engagement (that includes
online as well as face-to-face communication) in the issue area in
which they are operating
Respond to short-term needs, crises, and opportunities in ways
that reflect the ideas contained in the long-term plan, that draw on
the extra-governmental allies involved in the planning, and that
help to build the long-term resources and assets necessary for the
plans success

The Need for High Tech and

HighTouch
While this report focuses on online engagement, it is important to note
that working productively with the public also requires face-to-face

engagement. The two forms of communication have unique strengths

and limitations: nothing can beat the convenience and choice of online
tools, and nothing can beat the emotional impact of a face-to-face
conversation.
The practical experiences of public managers and academic research
support the notion that online and face-to-face engagement complement and reinforce one another well; one does not replace the other.
In their report for Public Agenda, Promising Practices in Online
Engagement, Alison Kadlec, Scott Bittle, and Chris Haller argue that
Theres a growing body of evidence that suggests the most powerful
applications merge online and face-to-face interaction, switching
seamlessly from one to the other.
In addition, a number of successful practices have emerged from the
online and face-to-face engagement efforts of the last decade:
Assembling a large and diverse critical mass of citizens (or in some
cases, a smaller, demographically representative set of people,
intended to serve as a proxy for the larger population)
Involving citizens in structured, facilitated small-group discussions,
interspersed with large forums for amplifying shared conclusions
and moving from talk to action. These have traditionally been
face-to-face meetings, but increasingly they are being held online,
and other online tools are being used to inform and complement
them.
Giving participants the opportunity to compare values and experiences, and to consider a range of views and policy options. This
allows people of different opinions to decide together what they
think should be done about a public issue.
Producing tangible actions and outcomes. There is some variation
here: some efforts focus on applying citizen input to policy and
planning decisions, while others also seek to effect change at other
levels, including changes within organizations and institutions,
actions driven by small groups of people, individual volunteerism,
and changes in attitude and behavior.

I NTR OD U CT I ON

Because of the nature of their training and their work, public managers tend to think in terms of situations, tactics, and tools. Whatever
the crisis or the opportunity, managers should assess the situation and
find the tactics and tools that will fit the task. This report is intended
to help public managers do just that. Managers also need to carefully
define the public or publics that they are trying to reach. Without such
definition, using online tools can be like walking blindfolded into an
unfamiliar room where the movers keep rearranging the furniture.

I NTR OD U CT I ON

The Challenge of Attracting

Participants
One of the most common mistakes in online (and face-to-face) engagement is a failure to proactively recruit participants. The phrase If
you build it, they will come definitely does not apply to social media,
argues digital strategist Qui Diaz. Indeed, it has been woefully inadequate for face-to-face meetings as well; depending on the level of controversy, official meetings and hearings tend to attract either a lonely
handful of attendees or a mob of people who rail at public officials and
leave more frustrated than they were before.
While it is true that the Internet provides an atmosphere where sites,
tools, or video clips can suddenly go viral, reaching a huge audience
because they have been tagged, or linked to, or talked about by just
the right combination of people, this is not a common occurrence and
public managers certainly cant assume that it will happen. The
Internet is full of engagement ghost towns, many of them created
by government, says Steve Clift of e-democracy.org. So in addition
to being part of a comprehensive, well-thought-out plan, any online
engagement effort should be prefaced by careful thinking about how
to recruit participants.
This is another area where the combination of face-to-face relationships
and online connections can make a huge difference. A personal, oneto-one appeal from someone you already know is still far and away
the most effective means of recruitment, and those relationships are
usually based on face-to-face interaction. But because of the growth of
social media, it is easier than ever to tap into networks of people who
already have these kinds of relationships. Online tools can also help
public managers involve people more meaningfully in the planning and
publicizing of events and processes.
Successful engagement initiatives tend to use these recruitment
strategies:

Map the networks of people within the public that managers want
to engagefor example, the residents of a particular community,
the stakeholders on the issue they are working on, or the people
who are likely to be most affected by a certain policy or decision.
Managers need to consider all the different kinds of online or faceto-face groups and organizations, based on workplace, faith community, ethnicity, or shared interest.
Reach out to leaders within those networks, groups, and organizations, and work with them to understand the goals and concerns
of their members and constituents. Managers should determine
whether their goals for engaging the public match the publics
goals for getting engaged. Managers need to ask Who is not at
the table, who ought to be here?
Use conversations to develop a recruitment message that will
appeal directly to peoples core interests. Managers should ask the
leaders of various groups and networks to recruit participants,
using individualized messagestelephone calls, personal e-mails
as much as possible.

Using One-Time, Time-Limited

Initiatives to Plan for Long-Term
Engagement
When public managers are using an online engagement tool as part of
a one-time, time-limited initiative, there are a number of ways that
they can use the lessons and momentum of their work in their planning for long-term engagement infrastructure:
Writing up the exercise and what the manager and the organization
have learned from it.
Conducting a more comprehensive evaluation of the project, and
making that evaluation publicly available.

 Adding Wiki tools so that both leaders and citizens can post
documents for public comments and joint editing
Adding polling tools so that both leaders and citizens can
create and respond to surveys on relevant issues, with the
results displayed for public comment
Adding crowdsourcing tools so that both leaders and citizens
can issue calls for helpful ideas on specific issues and
challenges
Adding mapping tools so that land use options can be presented by citizens, developers, planners, and public officials
for discussion and assessment
Publicizing the outcomes and policy impacts of public engagement
efforts, both online and in traditional media
Connecting online engagement efforts with face-to-face deliberations and other kinds of meetings

The Uncertain Legal Landscape for

Public Engagement
Much of the legal framework for citizen participation predates the rise
of social media and other online technologies. In fact, most of the laws
governing public engagement at the local, state, and federal levels are
several decades old, and do not reflect recent innovations. This has
created some confusion about what legal public engagement is supposed to look like.
On some kinds of policies, such as bond issues, budgets, and zoning
decisions at the local level, and in most issue areas at the state and

federal levels, public managers continue to follow the traditional practice of

public hearings, written notices, and comment periods. They sometimes
also rely on advisory committees made up of non-governmental stakeholders (at the federal level this work is codified in the Federal Advisory
Committee Act of 1972). Generally speaking, these formats arent considered very effective for eliciting or structuring public engagement.
Some officials have experimented with new ways of improving public
hearings. Others have stuck with the traditional formats, partly because
they believe the laws on participation do not allow for such changes.
There are now several major questions confronting public managers as
they begin to increase their use of new tactics and tools to engage citizens. First is the issue of the attribution by public officials and employees when tweeting or blogging online. Many public employees have
now started to add disclaimers to their online accounts (on social networking sites), stating that these are their opinions and not the opinions of their organization, says Ines Mergel, a professor of public
administration at Syracuse University. A huge amount of training is
necessary in this area. People withdraw instead of actually participating
because they fear retaliation. Second, public managers are uncertain
about how the laws on public meetings and public information should
be applied in online environments. Third, they are uncertain about how
geo-location technologies (such as Google Earth and SeeClickFix) will
be treated in light of an individuals right to privacy.
In most of these areas, there simply are no easy answers. This is not
only because the laws vary, and are interpreted differently by different
legal experts, but because in many places, the laws have yet to be
written. Writing about geo-location technologies, legal expert Kevin
Pomfret states that these online tools will never reach [their] full
potential until consistent and transparent laws and policies surrounding location privacy are developed! The best that public managers
can do is to consult the legal resources available to themincluding
legal staff within agencies, but also Guides from independent organizations such as the National Academy of Public Administrationand
incorporate those recommendations as part of a long-term public

I NTR OD U CT I ON

Using the lessons learned from the initiative to set up an online

space where different organizations and institutions can use the
technologies employed in the initiative. For example:

I NTR OD U CT I ON

engagement plan that will guide both recurring activities and shortterm initiatives.

Deciding on the Right Tools in

Response to Differing Scenarios
Within the context of a long-range strategic civic engagement plan,
there are different short-term online tactical tools that will make sense
in different scenarios. Part I of this report presents the most common
scenarios in which public managers seek to engage the public, suggests the tactics and online tools that make the most sense for those
circumstances, and identifies the situations where face-to-face interaction may be crucial.
One of the variables that is hardest to assess is how easily these tasks
and tools can be scaled up to engage thousands or even millions of
people. Historically, it has been easier to do public engagement at the
local level, since public managers are dealing with smaller numbers of
residents, and officials and employees are better able to interact with
citizens directly (either online or face-to-face). Now, managers at the
state and federal level are facing many of the same pressures and
opportunities as their local counterparts, and are trying to apply the
same successful principles.
A general rule of thumband one that applies to engagement at any
level of governmentis that tasks that require only a one-way flow of
information are easier to organize and scale than activities based on
two-way interaction. Surveys that produce a batch of results for managers, for example, or serious games that provide educational information for citizens, can reach large numbers of people more easily
than projects that engage citizens in deliberation or action planning.
There are two caveats, however: first, the number of participants in
any engagement effort is heavily dependent on the effectiveness of the

recruitment strategy. Second, the more meaningful and productive

forms of engagement that have emerged in the last twenty years rely
heavily on well-structured interaction between citizens and government, and among citizens themselves; to many of the practitioners
and public officials who are experienced with this work, one-way
transmissions of information dont count as engagement at all.
The table on the following pages summarizes the ten tactics most
commonly used to foster engagement with the public, matching up
scenarios with the tactics and online tools that seem most appropriate
in each situation.
The table is followed by Part I which presents five of the most common
situations, or scenarios, where public managers might seek public
involvement. Following these scenarios, Part II presents details of how
to use each of the ten tactics described, including specific tools that
others have found useful.

Tactic

Why Do It?

Online Tools

1. D
 evelop documents
collaboratively via Wikis
(Wikis)

You are trying to encourage

citizens to take shared ownership
of an issue and participate in
addressing it

Wikispaces, free at basic level: www.wikispaces.com

Wikiplanning, fee for service: www.wikiplanning.org

2. C
 reate shared work space
for citizens
(Shared Workspace)

You are trying to encourage

citizens to take shared ownership
of an issue and participate in
addressing it

Google Docs, free: docs.google.com

Dropbox, free at basic level: www.dropbox.org
GoogleGroups, free: www.googlegroups.com
Ning, fee for service: www.ning.com
BigTent, fee for service: www.bigtent.com
CivicEvolution, fee for service: www.civicevolution.org

3. F
 acilitate large-scale
deliberation online
(Large-scale Deliberation)

You are in the midst of a highprofile situation in which people

do not agree about what
should be done
You are trying to encourage
citizens to take shared ownership of an issue and participate in addressing it
You are trying to educate and
inform citizens about a
particular issue or decision

Ascentum Choicebook, fee for service: www.ascentum.ca

DialogueApp, fee for service: www.dialogue-app.com
Zilino: www.zilino.com
Microsoft TownHall, fee for service: www.microsofttownhall.com
IBM MiniJam and InnovationJam, fee for service:
www.ibm.com/ibm/jam/

4. U
 se serious games to
generate interest, understanding, and input
(Serious Gaming)

You are trying to educate and

inform citizens about a particular
issue or decision

Second Life, free at basic level: www.secondlife.com

Zynga, fee for service: www.zynga.com
Persuasive Games, fee for service: www.persuasivegames.com

Collaboration

I NTR OD U CT I ON

Ten Tactics for Engaging the Public

I NTR OD U CT I ON
9

Ten Tactics for Engaging the Public (continued)

Tactic

Why Do It?

Online Tools

5. Survey citizens

You want the immediate opinions

of citizens

SurveyMonkey, free at basic level: www.surveymonkey.com

SurveyConsole, free at basic level: www.surveyconsole.com
SurveyGizmo, fee for service: www.surveygizmo.com

6. A
 ggregate opinions
expressed on social media
networks
(Aggregate Opinions)

You want the immediate opinions

of citizens

ThinkUp, free: www.thinkupapp.com

CitizenScape, fee for service: www.citizenscape.net
Business Analytics, fee for service: www.ibm.com/software/analytics/
COBRA, fee for service: www.almaden.ibm.com/asr/projects/cobra/

7. G
 ather and rank ideas and
solutions
(Idea Generation)

You need ideas and information

from citizens on a given issue or
issues

IdeaScale, free at basic level: www.ideascale.com

Spigit, fee for service: www.spigit.com
Bubble Ideas, fee for service: http://bubbleideas.com/
Delib Dialogue App, free at basic level: www.dialogue-app.com
Google Moderator, free: www.google.com/moderator/

8. W
 ork with citizens to identify and prioritize problems
that government can fix
(Identify Problems)

You need ideas and information

from citizens on a given issue or
issues

SeeClickFix, free at basic level: www.seeclickfix.com

OpenStreetMap, free: www.openstreetmap.org
OpenLayers, free: http://openlayers.org
WikiMapia, free: http://wikimapia.org
Twitter, free: www.twitter.com

9. H
 elp citizens to visualize
geographic data
(Mapping)

You are trying to educate and

inform citizens about a particular
issue or decision

GoogleMaps, free: www.googlemaps.com

Virtual Earth, free: http://virtualearth.com
WorldKit, free: http://worldkit.org/
CommunityViz, fee for service: www.communityviz.com
MetroQuest, fee for service: www.metroquest.com

10. H
 elp citizens to balance
budget and revenue
options
(Identify Priorities)

You are trying to educate and

inform citizens about a particular
issue or decision

Budget Simulator, fee for service: www.budgetsimulator.com

Budget Allocator, fee for service: www.budgetallocator.com
Demos-Budget, fee for service: www.demos-budget.eu

Survey Attitudes

Prioritize Options

Part I: Scenarios
Scenario 1: You want to know the immediate citizen reaction to a
particular, well-known issue or decision.
Scenario 2: You are in the midst of a high-profile situation in which
different sets of people do not agree about what should
be done.
Scenario 3: You need new ideas, and more information, from citizens
to help make government more effective and/or efficient.
Scenario 4: You are trying to encourage citizens to take shared
ownership of an issue and participate in addressing it.
Scenario 5: You are trying to educate citizens about a particular issue
ordecision.

10

Basics

S CE NA R I O

You want to know the immediate citizen reaction to a particular,

well-known issue or decision.
Factors to consider: A key consideration here is whether to use a demographically representative sample of public opinion, or obtain a general
sense of what the most active and interested citizens think. Survey tools
can provide the former (if a random selection process is used), while
aggregation cannot. Surveys, however, can be limiting in that the language
and questions are dictated by the survey developer; aggregation is more
likely to reveal the terms and ideas people are already using to describe
an issue or problem.
Important to include face-to-face elements? No.
Relevant tactics: Tactic 5. Survey Citizens

Tactic 6. Aggregate Opinions

Gather
Opinions

Create
Consensus

Obtain
Ideas

11
SCENARIOS

Make
Decisions

Educate
Citizens
IBM Center for The Business of Government
www.businessofgovernment.org

Basics

S CE NA R I O

You are in the midst of a high-profile situation in which different

sets of people do not agree about what should be done.
Factors to consider: It is very difficult to overcome polarization among different segments of the population if you do not bring those people
together in a structured environment. Even the most carefully constructed
compromises rarely suffice in these situations: citizens rarely accept compromises if they didnt get the chance to participate when the agreements
were being negotiated. When people hear firsthand why people with different opinions believe as they do, when they have a chance to analyze
the same information, and when they are able to consider different arguments or policy options, they are usually able to find a substantial degree
of common ground.
Important to include face-to-face elements? Yes.
Relevant tactics: Tactic 3. Large-Scale Deliberation

Gather
Opinions

Create
Consensus

Obtain
Ideas

12
SCENARIOS

Make
Decisions

Educate
Citizens
IBM Center for The Business of Government
www.businessofgovernment.org

Basics

S CE NA R I O

You need new ideas, and more information, from citizens to help
make government more effective and/or efficient.
Factors to consider: The key question here is whether you are looking for
out of the box thinking about how government should operate (which
could include extensive, fairly sophisticated proposals on topics you didnt
expect) or for more mundane details about everyday problems (potholes,
graffiti) that public employees are already trying to manage. If the former,
you need tools for gathering and ranking ideasand you need to be openminded about the variety of suggestions you will receive, and how you will
use or respond to them. If the latter, you need tools to help citizens identify and prioritize problems, including a feedback loop that explains
whether and when government can fix them.
Important to include face-to-face elements? No.
Relevant tactics: Tactic 7. Idea Generation

Tactic 8. Identify Problems

Tactic 10. Identify Priorities

Gather
Opinions

Create
Consensus

Obtain
Ideas

13
SCENARIOS

Make
Decisions

Educate
Citizens
IBM Center for The Business of Government
www.businessofgovernment.org

Basics

S CE NA R I O

You are trying to encourage citizens to take shared ownership of

an issue and participate in addressing it.
Factors to consider: Recommending solutions for others to implement is
relatively easy; deciding to take action yourself, even in minor ways, takes
a higher degree of commitment. Building that level of ownership usually
requires bringing people together in an information-rich environment
where they can decide what they want to do, how they will remain connectedand how they will hold each another accountable for the commitments they make.
Important to include face-to-face elements? Yes.
Relevant tactics: Tactic 1. Wikis

Tactic 2. Shared Work Space

Tactic 3. Large-Scale Deliberation

Tactic 10. Identify Priorities

Gather
Opinions

Create
Consensus

Obtain
Ideas

14
SCENARIOS

Make
Decisions

Educate
Citizens
IBM Center for The Business of Government
www.businessofgovernment.org

Basics

S CE NA R I O

You are trying to educate citizens about a particular issue

ordecision.
Factors to consider: Most people are visual and experiential learners: they
learn better in interactive environments where they can envision how different proposals will affect their lives, and where they can test the
strengths and weaknesses of different ideas. Informing citizens tends to
make them more aware of the pressures and tradeoffs facing public managers, but it also tends to make them more determined to express their
preferences to governmentso citizen education should not be considered
a one-way transmission of facts, but a robust two-way conversation.
Important to include face-to-face elements? Yes.
Relevant tactics: Tactic 3. Large-Scale Deliberation

Tactic 4. Serious Gaming

Tactic 8. Identify Problems

Tactic 9. Mapping

Tactic 10. Identify Priorities

Gather
Opinions

Create
Consensus

Obtain
Ideas

15
SCENARIOS

Make
Decisions

Educate
Citizens
IBM Center for The Business of Government
www.businessofgovernment.org

Part II: Tactics and Tools

Tactic
Tactic
Tactic
Tactic

1:
2:
3:
4:

Tactic 5:
Tactic 6:
Tactic 7:
Tactic 8:
Tactic 9:
Tactic 10:

16

Develop documents collaboratively via Wikis

Create shared work space for citizens
Facilitate large-scale deliberation online
Use serious games to generate interest,
understanding, and input
Survey citizens
Aggregate opinions expressed on social media
networks
Gather and rank ideas and solutions
Work with citizens to identify and prioritize
problems that government can fix
Help citizens to visualize geographic data
Help citizens to balance budget and revenue
options

Develop documents collaboratively via Wikis

TA CT I C

Basics

Example: New Zealand

What is the tactic: The Wiki, a website that allows a group of people to write and edit any number of interlinked web pages using a web
browser, is one of the staples of Web 2.0 technology. Wikis have been
used in a wide variety of environments, the most famous of which is
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. Wikis have also been incorporated
in large-scale public engagement projects like the San Jose example
on the following page.

The government of New Zealand wanted to raise awareness of and

increase public participation in the revision of the countrys 1958
Police Act. In 2007, the Police Act review team opened a Wiki-based
collaborative effort to rewrite the Act. They started by posting the
contents of the original law, allowing anyone to edit it as they would
a Wikipedia article. The Wiki was monitored by as many as four fulltime employees at any given time.

Use this tactic when: You want to incorporate citizen ideas into a
document (a plan, a report, or a statement on a public challenge or
opportunity) in a way that is transparent and will help build broad
public support.

Ultimately, the Wiki served to build consensus among ideas which the
review team offered to legislators for consideration in their own drafting of the new legislation. The online initiative attracted extensive participation in New Zealand and media coverage from around the world.

Using this tactic online allows people to: Edit the document on their
own time through a process that tracks changes and contributors
openly and automatically, while minimizing staff time required for
coordination.

continued on next page

Limitations
If the online editing space is not connected strongly enough to the rest
of the participants daily activities (for example, if the editing process
does not automatically generate updates that go straight to the participants e-mail boxes, and/or it does not include face-to-face meetings),
then participation will wane, sometimes dramatically.

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

17
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

1
The City of San Jos used
Wikiplanning to incorporate the input
of thousands of residents and employees into the 2040 Envision San Jos
planning process. The Envision San
Jos Wikiplanning site attracted almost
4,500 online participants in under four
months, with online participants posting
over 100 images, completing 2,784
surveys, and leaving 240 pages of
posted comments. The more traditional
public workshop engagement process
attracted 600 people for face-to-face
meetings over a two-year period. The
process engaged communities that have
largely been underrepresented in past planning effortsespecially 18- to 25-year-olds and people of
color. Recruitment was accomplished through an extensive invitation strategy built on contacts made
available through the steering committee and city council members, affinity groups, arts and culture
organizations, and social networking sites. The majority of respondents (88%) reported learning of
the process via an e-mail invitation, through a newsletter, or from a friend. Online participants signed
in with their e-mail address and zip code, and were then directed to their communitys online forum.
Once there, they could view a video welcome by a community leader and an activity guide introduced by the projects team leader. Activities for participation included online surveys with instantaneous results, a blog or message board, a mapping exercise, a page where pictures could be posted
and commented upon, and background information including maps, plans, and recorded and video
presentations. Participants could read all the comments left by their peers, as could the elected leaders. The costs of compiling the report were minimal, because the log of comments and the results of
the survey were cumulative, and written by the participants.

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

TA CT I C

Example: San Jos, California

Online Tools
Wikispaces, free at basic level:
www.wikispaces.com
Wikiplanning
, fee for service:
www.wikiplanning.org

Submit additional online tools,

examples, or comments

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

18
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

Create shared work space for citizens

TA CT I C

Basics

Limitations

What is the tactic: Closed online work spaces can make it easier for
a group of people to communicate, plan, write, and make decisions.

If the online work space is not connected strongly enough to the rest
of the participants daily activities (for example, if the editing process
does not automatically generate updates that go straight to the participants e-mail boxes, and/or it does not include face-to-face group
meetings), then participation will wane, sometimes dramatically.

Use this tactic when: Small groups of citizens, or some combination

of citizens and public employees, are working together on an idea or a
plan.
Using this tactic online allows people to: Stay connected with one
another and continue working together without having to be in the
same place at the same time. It can either replace or complement
face-to-face meetings. It can also encourage use of related online tools
for editing, polling, and research.

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

continued on next page

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

19
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

2
TA CT I C

Example: Geraldton-Greenough, Australia

Twenty-one small action teams used
CivicEvolution to work on ideas that
have emerged from 2029 and
Beyond, an initiative that has
engaged 4,000 residents in planning
for the future of Geraldton-Greenough,
a city in Australia. The CivicEvolution
platform guides participants through
a process of recruiting collaborators,
brainstorming solutions, discussing
pros and cons, identifying resources,
and planning for action. The action
team ideas range from establishing a
youth council to developing a new
workforce plan for the city to creating
a botanical garden. 2029 and
Beyond, which also uses an array of
face-to-face processes, was named
one of the seven global finalists for
the 2011 Mohn Prize in Vitalizing
Democracy.

Online Tools
Google Docs, free: docs.google.com
Dropbox, free at basic level:
www.dropbox.org
GoogleGroups, free:
www.googlegroups.com
Ning, fee for service: www.ning.com
BigTent, fee for service:
www.bigtent.com
CivicEvolution, fee for service:
www.civicevolution.org

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

Submit additional online tools,

examples, or comments

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

20
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

Facilitate large-scale deliberation online

TA CT I C

Basics

Example: Germany

What is the tactic: Tools that create a more direct exchange between
citizens, engaging them in discussion and dialogue on policy options.

The German BrgerForum (Citizens Forum) 2011 is designed to

develop ideas that will promote and strengthen social cohesion and
equal opportunities in an increasingly diverse society. Over 10,000
citizens, selected randomly from 25 German cities and towns, took
part in the project. BrgerForum is supported by the Bertelsmann
Foundation and the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation; it builds on the experience gained from a series of 350-strong citizens forums on Europe
and the economy, conducted by the foundations in 2008 and 2009.
In the first phase, participants clustered in 400-member online
forums, centered on the 25 locations. They take part in moderated
online discussions broken down into sub-topics, culminating in proposals for social cohesion and equal opportunity.

Use this tactic when: The objective is for citizens to learn more about
the issues, communicate with one another across divisions, wrestle
with policy options, and find common ground on a particular decision,
issue, or plan. The objective is to galvanize citizen-driven action efforts
in addition to gathering recommendations for government.
Using this tactic online allows people to: Participate in a way that is
generally more convenient and versatile than face-to-face deliberation.
People who are geographically very far apart can be brought together;
citizens who are more comfortable in online environments can be
included in the process; and asynchronous deliberation can take
place (in other words, people can participate on their own time rather
than having to be in a certain place at a certain hour).

The discussions will be self-moderated, with assistance and training

from specialist teams. After the regional forums had concluded their
deliberations, all of the national participants debated the results on an
Internet discussion platform with 100 moderators, in order to create a
single national outcome document. The final project outcome will not
be formally bound into any specific political or government decisionmaking process, but will be made available to all public bodies and
any other interested organization, as well as the citizens themselves,
to build into whatever practical follow-up projects they wish.

Limitations
Lacks the emotional power and empathy level of face-to-face deliberation. May also fail to generate the same political power of a concentrated group, if the participants are too spread out geographically to
create sufficient critical mass.

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

continued on next page

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

21
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

3
In Ontario, the North West Local
Health Integration Network (LHIN)
worked with Ascentum to organize
Share Your Story, Shape Your Care,
an engagement initiative that received
the International Association for
Public Participation (IAP2) inaugural
Innovation of the Year Award for
2009. The LHIN manages delivery
of health services and sought to
involve local communities in setting
a care plan for the future.Ascentum
built a suite of online and in-person
tools to involve local patients, health
care workers, and stakeholders.
These included an online deliberative Choicebook, a stories- and
ideas-sharing platform, and a creative community Conversation Guide
to empower people to host their own
dialogues on local health care solutions at home, at work, or in their neighborhoods. By the time the
initiative had ended, the LHIN had engaged over 800 people across Northwestern Ontario, learned
more about patients and health professionals experiences with the health care system, identified
clear public values and priorities for the future of local health care, and gathered hundreds of ideas
on how to provide services differently and more effectively.

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

TA CT I C

Example: Ontario, Canada

Online Tools
Ascentum Choicebook, fee for
service: www.ascentum.ca
DialogueApp, fee for service:
www.dialogue-app.com
Zilino: www.zilino.com
Microsoft TownHall, fee for service:
www.microsofttownhall.com
IBM Jam, fee for service:
http://www.ibm.com/ibm/jam/

Submit additional online tools,

examples, or comments

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

22
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

Use serious games to generate interest,

understanding, and input

TA CT I C

Basics

Example: Spokane, Washington

What is the tactic: Online games give citizens a chance to test their
knowledge or come up with their own solutions to public problems.
When cleverly designed and disseminated, they can spread virally.
Use this tactic when: Publicizing public engagement opportunities,
encouraging creative thinking, and giving citizens a more informed,
realistic sense of the trade-offs involved in policymaking.
Using this tactic online allows you to: Offer a convenient and versatile
alternative for involvement, resulting in broader participation.

Limitations
Needs to be surrounded and supported by some of the other tactics in
order to have value.
In 2010, over 1,000 people played the Thousand Visions Game,
created by the city of Spokane, Washington, to help involve residents
in transportation budgeting and planning for the region. Participants
chose funding options, selected projects, and balanced the budget to
produce their own regional vision. This information is being used to
determine the priorities and funding options necessary to achieve the
unified regional transportation vision.
continued on next page

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

23
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

4
TA CT I C

Example: Maryland
The Maryland Budget Game, a joint
project of the Maryland Budget and
Tax Policy Institute and the University
of Baltimore, allows users to develop
their own proposals for balancing the
state budget. The game presents different budget options in a range of
policy areas, along with background
information and factors to consider.
The game calculates a short-term
budget, and predicts a long-term balance, based on the options chosen
by the user. It also builds in predictions for how different interest groups
will react to particular budgets.

Online Tools
Second Life, free at basic level:
www.SecondLife.com
Zynga, fee for service:
www.zynga.com
Persuasive Games, fee for service:
www.persuasivegames.com

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

Submit additional online tools,

examples, or comments

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

24
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

Surveying
Survey
citizens
citizens

TA CT I C

Basics

Limitations

What is the tactic: Online survey websites that make it easy to design
and disseminate surveys.

An online survey is not the same as a scientific opinion poll, unless

the user builds in other aspects of traditional polling, such as random
selection of participants. And as with traditional polls, question wording influences how people respond.

Use this tactic when: A quick reading of where people stand on a particular issue or decision is needed.

In designing the survey, questions can be added that collect demographic data to provide a better idea of who is responding, and how
well they represent the broader community. But regardless of demographics, this type of survey will tend to oversample informed, active
citizens and undersample those who are currently less engaged in
public life.

Using this tactic online allows you to: Reach more people with less
time, effort, and expense than required by traditional polling. The survey can also help connect users to other opportunities for engagement.
After answering the questions, the respondent can be presented with
links to activities including the other types described in this report.

continued on next page

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

25
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

5
TA CT I C

Example: Four-State Region

An online survey has been
one of the key components of
the Power of 32 initiative,
a two-year process to allow
residents of a 32-county, fourstate region to participate in
creating a shared vision for
the regions best future. The
32 counties included in the
projectfifteen in south
western Pennsylvania, ten in
northern West Virginia, five
in eastern Ohio, and two in
western Marylandrepresent
the economic region centered
on metropolitan Pittsburgh.
Power of 32 includes face-toface community conversations
as well as online elements.

Online Tools
SurveyMonkey, free at basic level:
www.surveymonkey.com
SurveyConsole, free at basic level:
www.surveyconsole.com
SurveyGizmo, fee for service:
www.surveygizmo.com
Keypad polling (usually done in face-toface meetings where participants vote
on the same question at the same time,
using handheld keypads. It can be linked
to online polls, or to live keypad polling
being conducted simultaneously in other
places)

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

Submit additional online tools,

examples, or comments

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

26
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

Aggregate opinions expressed on social media networks

TA CT I C

Basics

Example: White House

What is the tactic: Aggregation tools allow the user to listen in on

existing online discussions of public issues rather than try to bring
citizens to a new online space.

The White House is now using ThinkUp to track the ripples comments, retweets, related posts, and so onthat emanate from the various social networking sites used by the administration. The platform
is designed to help users search, sort, filter, export, and visualize these
online discussions.

Use this tactic when: Sampling the state of online conversation about
a particular issue or decision, either by testing how often certain terms
are used, by finding more in-depth posts and statements expressed
online, or both.

Example: Singapore
The government of Singapore is monitoring citizen reactions to policy
decisions using a social media tool called Business Analytics. The software, developed by IBM, looks for key words or phrases in social
media sites. By compiling lists of positive and negative terms, it aims
to identify trends in publicsentiment.

Limitations
The technology of aggregating opinions expressed online is still being
developed. Even when it is more fully operational, aggregation seems
unlikely to provide a representative sample of public opinion, not just
because of digital divides, but because the people participating in
most online discussions are a self-selected group that is not necessarily representative of the larger population.

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

continued on next page

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

27
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

6
TA CT I C

Example: United Kingdom Local Governments

Five local councils in the United
Kingdom were the first municipalities
to use Citizenscape, a web platform
that connects existing social websites, such as community forums and
sites like Facebook and Twitter, to
participatory tools such as ePetitions,
webcasts, or consultations.
Citizenscape is designed to provide
an immediate picture of what online
users in a community are talking
about.

Online Tools
ThinkUp, free: www.thinkupapp.com
CitizenScape, fee for service:
www.citizenscape.net
Business Analytics, fee for service:
www.ibm.com/software/analytics/
COBRA, fee for service:
www.almaden.ibm.com/asr/projects/
cobra/

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

Submit additional online tools,

examples, or comments

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

28
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

Gather and rank ideas and solutions

TA CT I C

Basics

Example: Department of Homeland

Security (DHS)

What is the tactic: Crowdsourcing, which allows participants to propose and then vote on ideas or solutions, is perhaps the best-known
online engagement technique.

Between July 16 and October 4, 2009, more than 20,000 stakeholders from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia participated in the National Dialogue on the Quadrennial Homeland Security
Review (QHSR). The comments and ideas solicited were used directly
to inform the study groups tasked with writing the QHSR report for
submission to Congress.

Use this tactic when: Tapping into the skills and knowledge of people
outside government by asking them for ideas and solutions, then
bringing even more citizen skills and knowledge into the mix by asking
the crowd to rank the ideas that emerge.
Using this tactic online allows you to: Cast an extremely wide net,
inviting suggestions not only from the local jurisdiction but potentially
from all over the world. The ranking system will help to sift through
the proposed ideas.

The online dialogue was structured in three phases:

Limitations

A review of the final products of each study group with participant

feedback and identification of next steps.

An initial forum of participant ideas on the goals and objectives

developed by DHS study groups across six topic areas
A deeper discussion into how best to prioritize and achieve the
proposed goals and objectives

Unless accompanied by a broad-based recruitment effort, or limited to

a certain set of people (rather than being left open to anyone on the
Internet), these tools can be co-opted by special interests.

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

continued on next page

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

29
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

7
TA CT I C

Example: Manor, Texas

The city of Manor, Texas, operates a
web portal called Manor Labs, which
asks residents to make problemsolving suggestions and then vote for
the ones they like best. The process
is open to anyone, not just Manor
residents.
When users register on the site, they
get 25,000 Innobucks, a virtual
local currency. Users earn more
Innobucks for activities such as commenting, voting, or submitting an
idea. If users earn enough, they can
shop at the Manor Labs store for
prizes like a Police Department
T-shirt, a gift certificate at a local
restaurant, or a chance to serve as mayor for a day. A department head evaluates the winning
ideas, and reviews each idea on a series of metrics, including whether it is sustainable and how
much, if anything, it will cost to implement. If the idea fails in any of these areas, the city provides
details explaining why it was rejected. Several ideas have been implemented so far, including an
RSS feed to notify residents of new construction, maintenance, and repair work, and an automatic
debit system to pay utility bills online.

Online Tools
IdeaScale, free at basic level:
www.ideascale.com
Spigit, fee for service:
www.spigit.com
Bubble Ideas, fee for service:
http://bubbleideas.com/
Delib Dialogue App, free at basic
level:
www.dialogue-app.com
Google Moderator, free:
www.google.com/moderator/

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

Submit additional online tools,

examples, or comments

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

30
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

Work with citizens to identify and prioritize problems

that government can fix

TA CT I C

Basics

Example: Twitter Vote Report

What is the tactic: Instant citizen reporting of public problems using

increasingly sophisticated cell phones and Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) mapping.

During the 2008 election, the Twitter Vote Report mobilized citizens
into a network of poll watchers who could share information and monitor election procedures. Sponsored by a broad array of organizations,
the initiative employed phone hotlines as well as text messaging and
Twittering. The hashtag #votereport was used to aggregate messages
on Twitter.

Use this tactic when: Harnessing the power of citizens to be intelligent sensors of the world around them, giving them the chance to
report problemspotholes, water leaks, broken streetlights, graffiti,
extensive litterthat public employees need to know about.

National Public Radio used the aggregated information in a story

assessing the performance of poll workers and election officials.
Perhaps one of the greatest successes, according to Public Agendas
Promising Practices in Online Engagement, was the ability of Twitter
Voter Report to provide a venue to ask questions and build a database
of information to give voters the help they needed. Questions poured
in from how can I know whether my voting rights are being
ensured, to where should I go to cast my ballot. Twitter Vote Report
helped to facilitate answering such questions by enabling peer-to-peer
communication right at the polling place.

Using this tactic online allows people to: Transmit precise data
quickly and easily. The same system can also allow residents to prioritize problems and also to organize citizen-driven efforts to fix some
problems, like graffiti.

Limitations
Doesnt address limits of government resourcesif a public works
department doesnt have enough manpower to fix the citys potholes,
asking citizens to identify them wont help, and may create unrealistic
expectations and increased frustration.

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

continued on next page

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

31
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

8
TA CT I C

Example: Washington, DC

Online Tools
SeeClickFix, free at basic level:
www.seeclickfix.com
OpenStreetMap, free:
www.openstreetmap.org
DC 311 is an iPhone and Facebook combination application that enables users to report physical
problems in Washington, DC. It allows iPhone users to document physical issues by taking photographs of graffiti, potholes, and other problems. The report is located using Global Positioning
System (GPS) capabilities of the phone and automatically uploaded to the citys 311 database. The
system also allows Facebook users to view and submit service requests by category and by location
on Google Maps.

OpenLayers, free:
http://openlayers.org
WikiMapia, free: http://wikimapia.org
Twitter, free: www.twitter.com

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

Submit additional online tools,

examples, or comments

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

32
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

Help citizens to visualize geographic data

TA CT I C

Basics

Example: New York City

What is the tactic: Interactive maps can incorporate economic, environmental, demographic, traffic, and other data, along with architectural and land use design tools, to depict different planning options.

Envisioning Development is a website that provides teaching tools

about land use and urban development in New York City. Designed by
a nonprofit called the Center for Urban Pedagogy, the online and faceto-face tools help New Yorkers navigate the arcane Uniform Land Use
Review Procedure, which governs all land use decisions in the city.
One of the tools is an interactive neighborhood-by-neighborhood map
that shows median income, income distribution, and average rents for
a range of apartment sizes.

Use this tactic when: Citizens need to see how their neighborhoods
and communities will look in order to better understand the possibilities and ramifications of planning decisions.
Using this tactic online allows people to: Reshape their visions on
the fly.

continued on next page

Limitations
Needs to be surrounded and supported by some of the other tactics
described in this report in order to have value.

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

33
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

9
The Heart of the Rockies collaboration, an alliance of land trusts in
Wyoming, Montana, Idaho,
Washington State, Alberta, and
British Columbia, used CommunityViz
to identify the private land most critical for conservation, and establish
shared 10-year conservation goals.
At an initial set of plenary meetings,
workshops, and small-group meetings in 2002, participants formulated
three criteria to be used in the land
analysis: biological importance, strategic ranchland, and lands of importance to local communities. Data on
watersheds, wildlife species, farmland soils, forest productivity, conservation easements, population demographics, historic sites, land
ownership characteristics, and other variables were fed into the CommunityViz software, which generated maps to help citizens and stakeholders develop priorities efficiently and effectively. Meeting
participants could see a clear visual representation of their values in one set of maps, and use slider
bars to test the impact of different factors. By 2007, the land trusts had completed 368 private
land conservation projects, conserving 411,000 acres of land, using the process.

TA CT I C

Example: Western Land Trust Alliance

Online Tools
GoogleMaps, free:
www.googlemaps.com
Virtual Earth, free:
http://virtualearth.com
WorldKit, free: http://worldkit.org/
CommunityViz, fee for service:
www.communityviz.com
MetroQuest, fee for service:
www.metroquest.com

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

Submit additional online tools,

examples, or comments

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

34
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

TA CT I C

10

Help citizens to balance budget and revenue options

Basics

Example: Chicago, Illinois

What is the tactic: Making available public budget websites that allow
participants to get a birds-eye view of a budget, and let them see how
different choices affect the bottom line.

The Participatory Budgeting Initiative in Chicagos 49th Ward gives

residents the opportunity to allocate $1.3 million of the wards capital
budget. Citizens gather in face-to-face meetings and an online forum
to discuss budget options and vote projects into implementation. The
process begins with a series of neighborhood assemblies that generate
ideas and volunteers; representative committees then prioritize and
hone the ideas. Their lists are then proposed for commentary on an
online forum, and presented at another set of neighborhood assemblies. The entire ward then votes on the ideas.

Use this tactic when: Giving citizens a more informed, realistic sense
of the trade-offs involved in budget decisions, and obtaining from them
a better understanding of their budget priorities.
Using this tactic online allows people to: Try different combinations of
service cuts, service enhancements, and revenue options in order to
balance the budget.

In the 2009-2010 budget cycle, the representative committees (of

16-20 residents each) submitted a list of 36 proposals to better the
wards infrastructure. The voting process in April 2010 attracted
1,652 of the 49th Wards residents, resulting in the recommendation
of 14 of the original committee proposals to the City of Chicago. The
winning ideas included sidewalk repairs, bike lanes, a dog park, a
community garden, and underpass murals. The process, which is now
in its second year, is led by a steering committee composed of over 40
community leaders from various local charities, churches, businesses,
and non-governmental agencies.

Limitations
Needs to be surrounded and supported by some of the other tactics
described in this report in order to have value.

continued on next page

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

35
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

10
TA CT I C

Example: Belo Horizonte, Brazil

In 2006, the Brazilian city of Belo
Horizonte launched a system of
Digital Participatory Budgeting
(e-PB) to parallel its face-to-face
participatory budgeting (PB) process. Citizens were able to make
spending decisions for a fund of
US$11 million. Online voters could
choose among four public works
projects for each of the nine districts of the city.

Online Tools

The Internet makes it easier for citizens to take part, reducing the time and cost of participation; the
traditional PB required citizens to attend meetings at a certain time and place, whereas with the
e-PB citizens were free to vote online within a period of 42 days. The e-PB was heavily promoted
and the website provided detailed information on the proposed works. Further information could be
obtained by e-mail and a designated address was set up to respond to queries. The online platform
of the e-PB allowed users to interact and deliberate with one another. A discussion forum featured
nine different threads, one for each district; active participation reached a total of 1,210 posts. The
available data shows nearly one-third of the voters would not have participated without the option of
casting their votes through the Internet.

Budget Simulator, fee for service:

www.budgetsimulator.com
Budget Allocator, fee for service:
www.budgetallocator.com
Demos-Budget, fee for service:
www.demos-budget.eu

1
Wikis

2
Shared
Work Space

3
Large-Scale
Deliberation

4
Serious
Gaming

5
Survey
Citizens

6
Aggregate
Opinion

7
Idea
Generation

Submit additional online tools,

examples, or comments

8
Identify
Problems

9
Mapping

36
COLLABORATE

SURVEY ATTITUDES

PRIORITIZE OPTIONS

10
Identify
Priorities

R E SOU R CE S

Amsler, Terry, and JoAnne Speers. 2005. Getting the Most Out of
Public Hearings. Sacramento, CA: Institute for Local Government.
Bittle, Scott, Chris Haller, and Alison Kadlec. 2009. Promising
Practices in Online Engagement. New York, NY: Public Agenda.
Clift, Steven. Sunshine 2.0. Forthcoming. Washington, DC: League of
Women Voters of the USA.
The Collaboration Project. 2011. Tools for Online Idea Generation:
A Comparison of Technology Platforms for Public Managers.
Washington, DC: National Academy of Public Administration.
Fung, Archon, and Elena Fagotto. 2009. Sustaining Public
Engagement: Embedded Deliberation. Dayton, OH: Kettering
Foundation.

Leighninger, Matt. 2006. The Next Form of Democracy: How Expert

Rule is Giving Way to Shared GovernanceAnd Why Politics Will
Never Be the Same. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.
Mann, Bonnie, and Matt Leighninger. 2011. Planning for Stronger
Local Democracy. Washington, DC: National League of Cities.
Pomfret, Kevin. 2010. Location and PrivacyWhat is the New
Reasonable? Spatial Law and Policy.
Ryan, Deborah. 2010. Wikiplanning: Engaging the Public in New
Ways Online. Planning and Technology Today.

Ganapati, Sukumar. 2010. Using Geographic Information Systems to

Increase Citizen Engagement. Washington, DC: IBM Center for the
Business of Government.

Scola, Nancy. 2010. Expert Labs Rolls Out ThinkUp, A Government

Social Media Dashboard. TechPresident.

Gotze, John, and Christian Bering Pederson, eds. 2009. State of the
eUnion: Government 2.0 and Onwards. 21gov.net.

Smith, Aaron. 2010. Government Online. Washington, DC: Pew

Internet and American Life Project.

Hicks, Robin. 2010. Singapore to Mine Citizen Sentiment in Social

Media. FutureGov.

Smith, Aaron. 2010. Mobile Access 2010. Washington, DC: Pew

Internet and American Life Project.

Ho, Alfred. 2007. Engaging Citizens in Measuring and Reporting

Community Conditions. Washington, DC: IBM Center for the Business
of Government.

Smith, Aaron. 2009. The Internet and Civic Engagement. Washington,

DC: Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Institute for Local Government. 2010. Social Media and Public

Agencies: Legal Issues To Be Aware Of. Sacramento, CA: Institute for
Local Government.
Leighninger, Matt. 2011. Citizenship and Governance in a Wild,
Wired World. National Civic Review, Spring 2011.
37

Leighninger, Matt. 2009. Democracy, Growing Up: The Shifts That

Reshaped Local Politics and Foreshadowed the 2008 Presidential
Election. New York, NY: Center for Advances in Public Engagement at
Public Agenda.

Vander Veen, Chad. 2010. Manor, Texas, Crowdsources Ideas for

Running the Town. Digital Communities.
Yankelovich, Daniel, and Will Friedman, eds. 2011. Toward Wiser
Public Judgment. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.

Matt is a Senior Associate for Everyday Democracy, and serves on the

boards of e-democracy.org, the National School Public Relations
Association, and The Democracy Imperative. He has advised a number
of national associations on their public engagement strategies, including the National League of Cities, NeighborWorks America, Centers for
Disease Control, and the League of Women Voters. Matt has also been
DDCs representative to LogoLink, a network of civil society organizations in the Global South.
He has written for publications such as The Christian Science Monitor,
The National Civic Review, Public Management, School Administrator,
and Nations Cities Weekly. His first book, The Next Form of Democracy:
How Expert Rule is Giving Way to Shared Governanceand Why
Politics Will Never Be the Same, traces the recent shifts in the relationship between citizens and government, and examines how these
trends are reshaping our democracy.
He is a graduate of Haverford College, and holds a Masters in Public
Administration from the School of International and Public Affairs
(SIPA) at Columbia University.

38

To contact the author:

Matt Leighninger
Executive Director
Deliberative Democracy Consortium (Washington, DC)
131 Chedoke Avenue
Hamilton, ON
L8P 4P2
Canada
905-972-0550
Website: www.deliberative-democracy.net
e-mail: mattl@deliberative-democracy.net

AB OUT THE AU T HOR

Matt Leighninger is the Executive Director of the Deliberative

Democracy Consortium (DDC), an alliance of the major organizations
and leading scholars working in the field of deliberation and public
engagement. The DDC represents more than 50 foundations, nonprofit
organizations, and universities, collaborating to support research activities and advance democratic practice, in North America and around
the world. Over the last seventeen years, Matt has worked with public
engagement efforts in over 100 communities, in 40 states and four
Canadian provinces.

Reports from
For a full listing of IBM Center publications, visit the Centers website at www.businessofgovernment.org.

Recent reports available on the website include:

Collaborating Across Boundaries

Managing Finances

Environmental Collaboration: Lessons Learned About Cross-Boundary Collaborations by

Kathryn Bryk Friedman and Kathryn A. Foster
Managing Innovation Prizes in Government by Luciano Kay
The Promise of Collaborative Voluntary Partnerships: Lessons from the Federal Aviation
Administration by Russell W. Mills
Strategies for Supporting Frontline Collaboration: Lessons from Stewardship Contracting
by Cassandra Moseley

Strategies to Cut Costs and Improve Performance by Charles L. Prow, Debra Cammer
Hines, and Daniel B. Prieto
Managing Risk in Government: An Introduction to Enterprise Risk Management (2nd
Edition) by Karen Hardy

Conserving Energy and the Environment

Breaking New Ground: PromotingEnvironmental and Energy Programs in Local
Government by James H. Svara, Anna Read, and Evelina Moulder
A Guide for Local Government Executives on Energy Efficiency and Sustainability by Nathan
Francis and Richard C. Feiock

Fostering Transparency and Democracy

Using Geographic Information Systems to Increase Citizen Engagement by Sukumar
Ganapati

Improving Performance
Project Management in Government: An Introduction to Earned Value Management (EVM)
by Young Hoon Kwak and Frank T. Anbari
Strategic Use of Analytics in Government by Thomas H. Davenport and Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa

39

Strengthening Cybersecurity
A Best Practices Guide to Information Security by Clay Posey, Tom L. Roberts, and James
F. Courtney
Cybersecurity Management in the States: The Emerging Role of Chief Information Security
Officers by Marilu Goodyear, Holly T. Goerdel, Shannon Portillo, and Linda Williams

Transforming the Workforce

Engaging a Multi-Generational Workforce: Practical Advice for Government Managers by
Susan Hannam and Bonni Yordi
Implementing Telework: Lessons Learned from Four Federal Agencies by Scott P. Overmyer

Using Technology
Using Wikis in Government: A Guide for Public Managers by Ines Mergel
An Open Government Implementation Model: Moving toIncreased Public Engagement
by Gwanhoo Lee and Young Hoon Kwak
How Federal Agencies Can Effectively Manage Records Created Using New Social Media
Tools by Patricia C. Franks

About the IBM Center for The Business of Government

Through research stipends and events, the IBM Center for The Business of
Government stimulates research and facilitates discussion of new approaches
to improving the effectiveness of government at the federal, state, local, and
international levels.

About IBM Global Business Services

With consultants and professional staff in more than 160 countries globally,
IBM Global Business Services is the worlds largest consulting services organization. IBM Global Business Services provides clients with business process and
industry expertise, a deep understanding of technology solutions that address
specific industry issues, and the ability to design, build, and run those solutions
in a way that delivers bottom-line value. To learn more visit: ibm.com

For more information:

Jonathan D. Breul
Executive Director
IBM Center for The Business of Government
600 14th Street NW
Second Floor
Washington, DC 20005
202-551-9342
website: www.businessofgovernment.org
e-mail: businessofgovernment@us.ibm.com

Stay connected with the IBM Center on:

or, send us your name and e-mail to receive our newsletters.